FEATURE
Swapna Nadkarni
Vice president of localization operations at Deluxe Entertainment Distribution India PVT (part of Deluxe Media)
Two decades in localization, and there’s never a dull moment! Being part of the media localization space, I’ve had the opportunity to see the industry change, go from physical to digital, from theatrical releases to day-and-date releases, with OTT changing how content is marketed and consumed. I started as an assistant director for a television series, then moved to be a subtitler at Deluxe in 2004. I had the opportunity in 2016 to be part of Sfera, later acquired by Deluxe, to learn how product licensing and SAAS works and how AI/ML can be integrated in subtitling. I led Deluxe’s effort to move all localization services onto Sfera’s cloud-based platform within a year and recently transitioned to lead the India localization operations.
ACCOLADES
Swapna is one of the sharpest minds I’ve met. Her vision, integrity, and confidence make her an outstanding leader and an inspiration.
Swapna Nadkarni is my choice, given she leads by example and is a true leader.
Always approachable, exudes knowledge, and is pious in her work.
Along the way, I had wonderful mentors and leaders to guide me when I felt I could do more. A huge thank you to Morgan Fiumi and Jim and Lakshmi Ziskin for influencing my early years at Deluxe, and to Greg Taieb and Chris Reynolds for supporting me through the last few years as I moved from innovation and product strategy to service delivery. Participating in the RISE mentorship program enabled me to expand my horizon. Today, I feel like I’m doing more for the industry as we try to bring localization to mainstream education in India, work to connect more women in this space via WILN (Women in Localization, India chapter) and continue to lead the way in customer service and technology. Recently being nominated for the RISE women’s award in business operations category and now featuring in this special issue of MultiLingual is testament to a great journey in my professional career. I’m honored to share the stage with other talented women and look forward to contributing in a larger way to the future of this industry.
Swapna is an absolute master at running a large-scale localization operations. She brings passion, empathy, and operational acumen to work every day. Thanks to her and her team, Deluxe India has been named as one of India’s Great Places to Work. I have no doubt that she will be able to repeat this achievement over and over again.
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